Monday, June 15, 2009

General Dynamics NASSCO Delivers Second Product Carrier

SAN DIEGO, -- General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), today delivered the second ship of its State-class of product carriers to USS Products Investor, a shipbuilding joint venture led by the Blackstone Group. The ship is named Pelican State, the state nickname of Louisiana.

NASSCO began constructing the Pelican State in August 2007. At a length of 600.4 feet (183 meters), the double-hulled ship has a cargo capacity of approximately 331,000 barrels and will be used to carry petroleum and chemical products in Jones Act service between U.S. ports.

"Completed more than eight months ahead of our original schedule, under budget, and in substantially fewer man-hours than the lead ship of the class, the Pelican State reflects NASSCO's high performance in product carrier construction," said Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. "We look forward to obtaining additional shipbuilding production and cost efficiencies during the build-out of this ship class."

General Dynamics NASSCO employs more than 4,700 people and is the only full-service ship construction and repair yard on the West Coast of the United States. In addition to the product carrier construction, the San Diego shipyard is building dry cargo-ammunition ships for the U.S. Navy.